Books

DEAD FAMOUS: AN UNEXPECTED HISTORY OF CELEBRITY, FROM BRONZE AGE TO SILVER SCREEN was published by W&N Books on March 19th 2020.

Dead Famous is a surprising, funny, and fascinating exploration of both a bygone age and how we came to inhabit our modern, fame obsessed society. The book spans the Bronze Age to the coming of Hollywood’s Golden Age, and assembles a vibrant cast of over 125 actors, singers, dancers, sportspeople, freaks, demigods, ruffians, and more, in search of celebrity’s historical roots. Greg reveals why celebrity burst into life in the early eighteenth century, how it differs to ancient ideas of fame, the effect it had on public tastes, and the psychological burden stardom could place on those in the glaring limelight.